The 101 Leaders Alliance

In 2003 I formed an Alliance to develop the leadership skills of those who live along the “101 Corridor”, the 45 mile stretch of highway 101 between Calabasas and Ventura, California. As others expressed interest in this cause we created the 101 Leaders Alliance as a way of blending our energies and resources.

The participants in the Inaugural 101 Leadership Summit were:

• Cathcart Institute, Inc.
• Jeff Tanenbaum Fundraising & Auction Services
• Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business & Management
• California Lutheran University, School of Business
• California State University, Channel Islands
• Ventura County Sheriff’s Department
• Crescendo Interactive
• Ventura County Community Foundation
• Transcende Consulting
• The Lefko Group

Presenters were:

Sheriff Bob Brooks, Ventura County Sheriff

Jim Cathcart, Professional speaker & author, Founder of 101 Leaders Institute

Marty de los Cobos, VP for University Advancement, California State University Channel Islands

Art Hobba, President of Transcende, Organizational Development Specialists

Mark Lefko, President of Lefko Group, Specialists in Off-site Corporate Retreats

Linda Livingstone, Dean, Graziadio School of Business & Management, Pepperdine University

Charles Maxey, Dean, School of Business, California Lutheran University

Hugh Ralston, President, Ventura County Community Foundation

Charles Schultz, President of Crescendo Interactive, Total Planned-Giving Solutions

Jeff Tanenbaum, Professional Fund Raiser & Business Coach, (Partner in 101 Leaders Summit)

The Purpose of The 101 Leaders Alliance is as follows:

Improving the Quality of Life Along the “LA-Ventura” Corridor by increasing the leadership & achievement abilities of those who work and live here.

From Calabasas to Ventura, Highway 27 to Highway 33: the world famous Highway 101 winds through a dozen thriving communities. This “LA-Ventura” area, along the inner slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains, has one of the highest quality of life ratings in California and one of the lowest crime rates in the nation.

This area is also blessed with an excellent educational infrastructure and contains universities, colleges and other providers who can develop current leaders and cultivate future ones.

In 2003 speaker and author Jim Cathcart founded The 101 Leaders Alliance to identify, encourage, develop and learn from the people in the Corridor who are making a difference through personal leadership.

Concept: Effective leaders are talented at leading themselves as well as leading others. They possess the ability to get things done by mastering the ability to: successfully lead meetings, deliver presentations, communicate persuasively, think strategically, organize effectively, and motivate powerfully. However, personal leadership skills are often lacking even in many who hold leadership positions. This endangers organizations and individuals. Education and training are needed as is encouragement. By publicly celebrating the highly effective leaders across many disciplines those leaders will be encouraged to make further contributions and others will be inspired to follow their examples, thereby increasing the number of people who are making contributions in their various fields.

Process: By forming an ongoing alliance among the various providers of business & leadership education and publicly celebrating the joy and rewards of personal leadership more people will be motivated to step forward, access the learning and make personal contributions for the betterment of this region.

Strategy: Focus on the cultivation of personal leadership skills. To differentiate ourselves from other efforts to train leaders and teach civic or corporate skills, 101 Leaders will emphasize the development and use of skills that transcend categories; Communication, Critical Thinking, Innovation, Decision Making, Public Speaking, Leading Meetings, Organizing and Managing Projects, Motivating yourself & others, Selling your products & ideas, and Managing Resources & Revenues.Actual application will be built into the training structures wherever practical. Emphasis will be placed on increasing ability rather than on knowledge alone.

1. Leadership Training;The 101 Leaders Alliance, this series of seminars, workshops, roundtables, speeches and learning resources will be presented by bestselling authors, hall of fame professional speakers, professional trainers and educators to provide specific skill development and inspiration to all who aspire to become more effective business professionals and Leaders. Training will be offered throughout the year and will complement the resources of Colleges and Universities in the Corridor as well as using the leaders themselves as adjunct faculty.

2. Local Awards events, in each community its local leader recipients will be acknowledged by their friends and neighbors through existing community events. These will be supported and encouraged by 101 Leaders.

3. The Summit: A key component of the 101 Leaders Institute is the Leadership Summit. This event will be a combination of meetings, training, celebrations and expositions held at an upscale venue here in the 101 corridor. Inspiring speakers, panels, workshops and demonstrations will be provided for all who wish to cultivate more and better leaders. Throughout the year 101 Leaders will be acknowledged publicly and privately in a variety of ways.

4. The 101 Leaders Press Fest, starting in conjunction with the Leadership Summit a press-junket event will be held to allow all media to have access to the alliance members and leaders. Specialty media as well as general interest publications will be welcomed. The goal is to position this area as a hot-bed of leadership talent and the resources for its development.

5. The Annual 101 Leaders Gala, this awards ceremony will be held in concert with the Leadership Summit. Honorees, their coworkers, employers, friends, families and interested others will gather to hear world class keynote speakers and to see all the recipients receive their Awards. Honorees will fit the 101 Leaders profile and be acknowledged for personal growth and achievement in a variety of categories.

6. Sponsorships, Advertising, Internships and Special Projects will be offered to allow everyone to benefit from the 101 Leaders initiatives.

7. 101 Leaders.com, this website is a learning portal and knowledge base of the information, people and the things they do to attain 101 status. This Learning Center will be linked to all the resources available to aspiring and existing 101 Leaders. It will also be our digital press office with information on all aspects of the institute and the recipients. Alumni of 101 Leaders will have their own portion of the website for continuing communication and growth. Members of the 101 Leaders Alliance will also have their own website at 101 Leaders.org for continuing communication and coordination.

8. The 101 Leaders Yearbook, a perfect bound magazine-format book that lists the leaders and their profiles. Once the Institute reaches critical mass in membership we will publish the yearbook. This book will contain a comprehensive listing of all within the corridor who have been acknowledged and honored during the previous year. It will be distributed throughout the corridor. Within this publication will be leadership lessons and profiles of the educational resources in the region.